Binance Smart Chain is one of the top platforms for dApps and a strong competitor to Ethereum. Thanks to much lower fees, many decentralized applications have deployed on BSC, including DeFi and farming protocols, DEXes, and NFT collections.
New projects emerge on Binance Smart Chain every day, and you can become one of them! To start building on BSC, you will need to access a block explorer to keep track of what’s happening on the network and a node to test and deploy your dApp. Here, we will explain what is Binance Smart Chain, and how you can access it in mere minutes with NOWNodes.
What Is BSC?
Binance Smart Chain is a platform for dApps and smart contracts launched in September 2020. It’s EVM-compatible, so any Ethereum-based protocol can be easily deployed on BSC, and this is facilitated by lower fees and faster block generation. While Ethereum was struggling with gas fees going to the moon and high congestion rates, Binance Smart Chain was supposed to offer a promising alternative.
And it did — many protocols have migrated to BSC. As a large part of DeFi has moved here, users have finally got an opportunity to send transactions for reasonable fees. DeFi implies moving your funds frequently, and Ethereum transaction fees used to eat out the potential profit. With low fees on Binance Smart Chain, this is no longer a problem.
Sometimes users wonder about the downsides of BSC and ask what’s wrong with Binance Smart Chain. The network is sometimes criticized for centralization — it leverages the Proof of Stakes Authority consensus algorithm where only 21 nodes need to agree on a block to add it to the blockchain. Such a design is potentially vulnerable to 51% attacks; nevertheless, BSC has never experienced any serious security breaches so far.
How to Access a Binance Smart Chain node?
GET ACCESS TO BSCA Binance Smart Chain node executes the following functions:
- It stores the full copy of the blockchain and can answer the data requests from users,
- It validates transactions and new blocks,
- It verifies the states of all accounts.
If you want to run a crypto project based on Binance Smart Chain, you will need to access a BSC node. It will allow you to create dApps, wallets, exchanges, and more. The requirements for running a node are quite high, though: it needs at least 16 cores of CPU, 64 GB of RAM, and 2 TB of free disk space. Moreover, installing and operating a node requires a number of technical skills. This process takes a lot of money and time. To avoid such costs, you can connect to a Binance Smart Chain with the API provided by NOWNodes. The API will respond to each request in less than 1 second, and you can run as many queries as you want. To start using NOWNodes, get the free API key: leave your email on our main page, and we will send it to you right away. Visit our docs for request samples.
Top 3 BSC dApps
Let’s look at the Top 3 Binance Smart Chain dApps – a decentralized exchange and farming protocol, a DeFi platform, and a blockchain game.
PancakeSwap
PancakeSwap is the leading decentralized exchange on BSC. Besides swapping the assets, you can provide liquidity to pools, stake LP BSC tokens and farm the platform’s native CAKE token and other cryptocurrencies. The large variety of opportunities to profit makes PancakeSwap one of the most loved BSC dApps. PancakeSwap is available with Binance Smart Chain Metamask wallet (but first, users should add Binance Smart Chain to Metamask).
DRIP
DRIP is a DeFi protocol and a Binance Smart Chain token that promises daily passive income – users get 1% every day, or 365% every year, from their stake. The rewards are paid from a 10% tax on all transactions in the network. In January 2022, DRIP managed to double its user base as other dApps were struggling to keep the same level of activity. Before using DRIP, users should explore how to set up Binance Smart Chain on Metamask to access the platform.
SecondLife
SecondLive is a 3D virtual space and the largest BSC-based metaverse. Here, you can create an avatar and do real-life things such as shopping, going to exhibits, singing, and even running businesses. With your SecondLive avatar, you can make content and profit from it. The main SecondLive modules include avatar builder, Multiple Virtual Spaces for operating your avatar, SecondLive NFT marketplace, and a scenario editor.
How to Track BSC Metrics?
If you want to build on Binance Smart Chain, you’d need to monitor what’s happening in its blockchain in real-time. A BSC explorer allows you to do this – it serves as a Google for the network data. One of the most popular solutions of this kind is BSCscan – it displays block height, list of blocks, their contents, receivers and senders of transactions, etc. You can use a search bar to look for a specific transaction or wallet address. This is what BSCscan looks like:
However, if you want to build on Binance Smart Chain, BSCscan won’t work – your service will need to make thousands of requests on dozens of parameters. This is possible with NOWNodes – our API block explorer allows you to send queries to a node directly and get much more information in a given time. You can execute any requests that you find in our Docs, and the number of them is unlimited, meeting the demands of any service. To start using our Binance Smart Chain block explorer, you will need a free API key. Leave your email on our main page, you will receive it in no time.
Summary
Binance Smart Chain has revolutionized the world of dApp platforms by offering high efficiency, fast transactions, and low fees. This has attracted numerous protocols, and many new ones continue to deploy. Every project that comes to BSC leverages a block explorer and a node. By sending requests to a block explorer, you can learn about transaction status, wallet balances, and more. By accessing a node, you connect to Binance Smart Chain and deploy your dApp. All this is possible with NOWNodes – get a free API key and start building on BSC today!
GET ACCESS TO BSCShare it:
